Search the Media Repository
Discover the curated images, videos, and primary sources featured throughout Foundations and Futures
History is more than just text on a page; it is the photographs, voices, and artifacts of the people who lived it. The images and recordings featured across Foundations and Futures are part of a meticulously curated media repository. Whether you are building a lesson plan or investigating an artifact, you can use this database to trace the provenance of our media: discover who created an asset, the historical context behind it, and how it can be used to bring Asian American and Pacific Islander experiences into your classroom.
Multimedia
Chapters
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The American Citizens for Justice (Page 2)
The newly formed pan-Asian civil rights organization reached out to every Asian ethnic group it could find. Within weeks, the broad list of endorsing groups showed that a multi-ethnic, pan-Asian advocacy movement under the umbrella concept “Asian American” was possible.
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The American Citizens for Justice (Page 1)
The newly formed pan-Asian civil rights organization reached out to every Asian ethnic group it could find. Within weeks, the broad list of endorsing groups showed that a multi-ethnic, pan-Asian advocacy movement under the umbrella concept “Asian American” was possible.
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Jesse Jackson with Lily Chin
In a show of Black-Asian solidarity, Rev. Jesse Jackson (center back row, seated) stops at San Francisco’s Cameron House during his 1984 presidential campaign to support Lily Chin, Vincent’s mother (standing at podium), and the national civil rights campaign for justice that began in Detroit.
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Press Release On Sentence for Vincent Chin’s Killers (Page 3)
This first press release from the Asian American community protested the injustice to Vincent Chin when his killers received probation was issued before American Citizens for Justice was established, but that did not stop the community from speaking out.
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Press Release On Sentence for Vincent Chin’s Killers (Page 2)
This first press release from the Asian American community protested the injustice to Vincent Chin when his killers received probation was issued before American Citizens for Justice was established, but that did not stop the community from speaking out.
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Press Release On Sentence for Vincent Chin’s Killers (Page 1)
This first press release from the Asian American community protested the injustice to Vincent Chin when his killers received probation was issued before American Citizens for Justice was established, but that did not stop the community from speaking out.
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March Through Detroit’s Downtown
Detroit-area Asian Americans lead an historic civil rights protest march through downtown to the Federal building to condemn the probation sentences of Vincent Chin’s killers and to demand a federal civil rights investigation.
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Asian Americans Protest in Detroit
May 9, 1983: With raised fists, Detroit’s Asian Americans led a region-wide demonstration, declaring, “It’s not fair,” the last words of Vincent Chin, to protest the probationary sentence for the two white assailants who killed him with a baseball bat.
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American Citizens for Justice Picket Line
Throughout the Asian American community’s multipronged legal efforts, American Citizens for Justice (ACJ) organized outspoken, out-and-proud pickets in front of the courthouse to draw attention to the devaluation of Vincent Chin’s life and to call for a fair rehearing.
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Chinese Community in Detroit (Page 3)
Second-generation Detroiter Mabel (Fatt) Lim, wrote this article in the late 1940s for her church newsletter, describing the dynamic Chinese American community. Mabel and Ray Lim, her husband, were active volunteers with the 1980s Justice for Vincent Chin campaign.
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Chinese Community in Detroit (Page 2)
Second-generation Detroiter Mabel (Fatt) Lim, wrote this article in the late 1940s for her church newsletter, describing the dynamic Chinese American community. Mabel and Ray Lim, her husband, were active volunteers with the 1980s Justice for Vincent Chin campaign.
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Chinese Community in Detroit (Page 1)
Second-generation Detroiter Mabel (Fatt) Lim, wrote this article in the late 1940s for her church newsletter, describing the dynamic Chinese American community. Mabel and Ray Lim, her husband, were active volunteers with the 1980s Justice for Vincent Chin campaign.
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Detroit Industry Mural
Diego Rivera’s iconic 1930’s Detroit Industry Murals depict the evolution of Detroit’s industry and labor. Though few Asians worked in Detroit’s high-paying auto industry, a sole Asian American is depicted (lower right) working for Ford Motor Company.
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Those Asian-American Whiz Kids
TIME magazine cover, August 31, 1987: News media, books, industry, and government leaders often perpetuate the harmful “model minority” myth, which falsely portrays all Asians as the “good” minority that has no problems and never speaks up for community needs.
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UAW Members Don’t Like Your Import
Bumper stickers declared Japan to be America’s enemy; these were displayed at the UAW International Headquarters in Detroit in 1983. Japan’s fuel-efficient cars, not Germany and its pioneering VW Beetle, were blamed for the decline of Detroit’s huge, gas-guzzlers.
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Lines At Michigan Employment Security Commission
When the US industrial sector and the auto industry collapsed in the 1980s, after oil crises in the Middle East, workers across the US experienced massive, long-term unemployment, especially in the industrial Midwest.
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Anger Towards Japanese Auto Industry
As massive unemployment dragged on for years, companies, unions, and the government were initially at odds. They eventually found a common enemy to blame: Japan and anyone who looked Japanese. Angry workers took their frustrations out by destroying Japanese cars.
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Interview with Eyewitnesses to Chin Attack
Michael Gardenhire, an off-duty Highland Park police officer, and Officer Morris Cotton (in uniform) describe what they saw as an eyewitnesses to the baseball bat beating of Vincent Chin in front of the busy McDonald’s.
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Vincent Chin with Fiancée Vikki Wong
Vincent Chin and his fiancée Vikki Wong were to be married only days after his bachelor party, when he was savagely and fatally beaten. Their four hundred wedding guests went to Vincent’s funeral instead.
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Gary Koivu Remembers Friend Vincent Chin
Gary Koivu, Vincent Chin’s best friend, was at the bachelor party on the fateful night of June 19, 1982. He talks about their friendship, starting when he met Vincent in the first grade.
